ARTICLES ABOUT FLORIDA MARLINS BY DATE - PAGE 5

Much attention has been directed toward the struggles of the Marlins' offense through this season gone awry. There may be cause for greater concern about the decline of the starting rotation. With ace Josh Johnson out since May with shoulder inflammation, Marlins starters have slipped to 14th in the National League with an ERA of 4.52. They rank ahead of only the Astros and Cubs. Can Johnson be counted on to take the ball on Opening Day in the new ballpark next April 4 against the Cardinals?

Ask Juan! SunSentinel Marlins Writer Juan C. Rodriguez answers YOUR questions about the team! You can read his latest comments below. To submit your question, e-mail here . Please include your name, city and state with each question. Aug. 22, 2011 Q: Where are you going to put all those people at the new park? The way they are playing, you should get at 250 people a night. Get rid of the top dogs and spend money for players.

Sunday's game: Giants at Marlins 1:10 p.m., Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens On the mound RHP Chris Volstad (5-8, 5.58) vs. RHP Ryan Vogelsong (9-2, 2.47): Volstad is back from Triple-A New Orleans where he was 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in three starts, including a no-decision Monday in which he gave up four runs in five innings. He's 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA vs. the Giants with 17 strikeouts and three walks, including a road win May 26 in which he allowed two runs in six innings.

The Marlins placed second baseman Omar Infante on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a broken finger. Manager Jack McKeon was hopeful Infante would be ready when he is eligible to return. "They said it wasn't that bad a break," McKeon said. "He's a gamer. He likes to play. When they say 15 days, you've got to almost put money that he'll be ready to go. " Infante has been one of the hottest hitters in the National League since the All-Star break. He was hitting .450 over his past 10 games, raising his season average to .279.

It has been so long since Anibal Sanchez won that Jack McKeon was still riding a tractor in North Carolina and June was not yet a sore subject for the Marlins. Like the heat wave across the country, there is no end in sight to the longest victory drought of Sanchez's career. Doubles by Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in the eighth inning lifted the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory at Sun Life Stadium and left Sanchez (6-5) winless in 10 consecutive starts. The right-hander's last victory was June 10 against Arizona when he improved to 6-1. At the time he looked like a good bet to represent the Marlins in the All-Star Game.

The Marlins spent more than a month climbing out of the hole they dug in June. They won 20 of 30 games to reach the goal manager Jack McKeon set of returning to .500. Before opening a four-game series with the Cardinals on Thursday, McKeon set a new objective. "The immediate goal is to stay over .500 and start moving north. Hopefully we can play the same type of ball we've been playing the last couple weeks," McKeon said. That may be more readily attainable if they could play the remainder of the season away from Sun Life Stadium.